Hold Your Precious Things Dear
by Master of the Hellish Yard
Summary: Gray is sick but nobody knows, and the mission that he, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy are on has something strange behind it. GrayxNatsu, NatsuxGray, Natgray, Graysu, whichever you choose to call it and character death. Rated T to be safe.
1. Prelude

**Hold Your Precious Things Dear**

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, Natsu and Gray wouldn't have lived this long… * devilish grin *

Gray woke up that morning with a headache and cough, as he had everyday for the past week. Somehow, he had gotten sick, but he thought it would be over quickly. Keeping true to his stubbornness (and also not wanting to think what the rest of the guild would say when an _ice_ mage caught a _cold_), he grudgingly got out of bed and headed towards the washroom.

As nice as it would have been to stay home and rest, Gray had agreed to go out on a mission with Lucy and Natsu today. Erza was also tagging along with them for the first part of the journey. That meant no being late or dropping out, especially since nobody knew he was sick.

When he had finished preparing for the days ahead and arrived in front of the guild, Gray stopped for a moment to clear his throat and ensure he looked normal. Upon entry, he noticed that sitting at the bar were Lucy, Natsu and Happy, bored and impatient. Glad that he had not been the last to arrive, Gray headed over to the trio and sat down. A few moments later, the doors burst open and the ominous presence that can only be known as Erza filled the guild. Judging by her expression, Gray assumed that _something_ (although he didn't know what) had gone wrong that morning, and that was most likely the only reason why she had been the last to arrive. Breaking from his chain of thoughts and getting off the stool, Gray headed towards the door, ready to leave. Only after they had gotten halfway to the train station did Gray realize that he had no clue as to what the mission was about. _'Oh well'_ he sighed. _'I guess it shouldn't be _too_ bad.'_

Still staggering after the 4 ½ hour train trip, Natsu was dragging behind the rest. Only after a while of walking on solid ground did he notice that Gray was also going a bit slower than normal. _'Whatever. He's probably just tired or annoyed about the mission or something.'_ Natsu thought to himself. Then he realized that he was pretty sure he had never told Gray what the mission was…

Arriving at the front of the building where the group was to meet the person who had posted the request, Erza said her goodbyes and headed off to who-knows-where for some S-class mission of which the details were strictly secretive. Entering the cool interior of the building (the team had gone to a more southern town where the weather was warmer), an older man immediately walked up to them. He definitely wasn't the most handsome of people, with white sideburns that were braided underneath his chin and integrated into his beard, bald everywhere else. His skin was covered in freckles from working long hours for many years in the hot sun of the area. But when he spoke, his deep, rich voice filled you with awe. Regal and proud, with experience that proved he had overcome many hardships, the voice was so capturing that the group missed his first words mesmerized by the mere sound of them.

"…ank you for arriving so quickly, my friends. I am Hishiou. Please enjoy your stay in our home, however long or brief it may be. I would like for you to just sightsee and relax, but… business come first. Could you please introduce yourselves?"

"Aye sir!" called an exuberant Happy. "This is Lucy, that's Gray and heeere's Natsuuuuu!" he said, pointing to each in turn and then flying circles around his long-time friend.

When the 3 and cat had finally settled into the room they were to stay in, it was dark. Night had fallen, and Gray _still_ didn't know what the mission was about. Tired of waiting, he walked up to Natsu, picked him up by Igneel's scarf, and said, "What the hell is this mission about?"

Natsu's blank stare changed into a look of surprise, then inward laughter as he realized that Gray was getting tired of not knowing what the mission was about. Responding with a yawn, Natsu said, "Talk to Lucy. I'm gonna sleep now." To Natsu's surprise, however, instead of the cold-blooded retort he had been expecting, Gray just set him down and went over to Lucy. Wondering why and how Gray had not pounded him, Natsu just watched as Lucy explained it all to him.

"The town's been plagued by some weird thing for the past 3 months that's been stealing the water, ruining the crops, and continuing to make the sun beat down relentlessly. The man we saw earlier, Hishiou, recently was appointed village leader in place of the lazy, useless pig before him. That's why he was able to do all this."

Gray sighed as Lucy finished her explanation. He was wondering why, even in the mid autumn, it had been so warm here. He had a feeling this was not going be easy, and he also was getting a bit dizzy. Heading towards the room he and Natsu were supposed to share, he paused for a moment. Sharing a room with Natsu meant that there was the possibility that he would realize something was wrong. Then again, he wasn't the most observant all the time, and Gray couldn't exactly go and ask if he would sleep somewhere else. There was no way Lucy would let him sleep in her room, and Gray highly doubted Natsu wanted to sleep on the couch every night. _'No,'_ Gray told himself, _'I'll just have to be careful and hope for the best.'_ Turning back towards the door, Gray went into the room and went to sleep.

The next morning, Gray awoke to find a snoring Natsu in the bed snuggling next to him. Last night Gray had failed to notice that there was only one bed, and that bed wasn't overly big. This made things even harder. As he tried to get out of bed, however, Gray felt a tug on his arm. Natsu had grabbed onto it and wasn't letting go. The dragonslayer was strong, and right now Gray didn't have the energy to focus on this. His cold was getting worse, and it was taking almost all of his strength to keep the symptoms hidden. Knowing that, Gray sat back down on the bed as Natsu began to loosen his grip. When his arm was free, Gray got up. Quickly. Too quickly. His head was throbbing and he had to lean against the wall for support. What made it even worse was that, at that moment, Natsu opened his eyes. And he was looking straight at him. Awake and looking towards the wall where Gray was leaning. The thought once again went through the pink-haired boy's head; _'There's something wrong with him'. _But because Natsu didn't want Gray to know he cared – they _were_ rivals, after all - he just made some groaning noises and turned over. Safe for the moment, Gray began to stand up straight –slowly. He moved towards the washroom that was near the corner of the room. Although he knew that there was the chance Natsu would stop him from doing something, he got the feeling that that would only happen if something really bad began. Stepping into the shower, warm water flowing over his tired body, Gray's thoughts were lost as he took in the steam around him.

While Natsu knew that something was up with Gray, he was pretty sure the ice mage was fine enough to keep on with the mission. Plus, if Lucy knew, there would be no chance for Gray. Natsu shivered at the thoughts he was having, Lucy's wrath could be even worse than Erza's if you hit it right.

Climbing out of the bed, Natsu heard the noise of the shower going. He knew that he was going to have to wait, and so the boy instead headed out to the main room to grab a bite to eat.

Lucy was sitting at he table with a bowl of cereal when Natsu entered. He quickly fixed another for himself, then sat down across from the celestial mage. Looking at him with brown eyes questioning, the fiery boy knew she was wondering where Gray was and why he went to bed so early. With a shrug of his shoulders and a jerk of his thumb, Natsu's movements told Lucy that Gray was in the shower and he didn't know why he had gone to bed when he did. As he was clearing his dishes away, Natsu said quietly, "Maybe he was just tired."


	2. The Dead Doll

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail isn't mine. Mystogan, on the other hand…

Back in the boy's room (Happy had slept with Lucy when he saw how small the be was), Gray had finished his shower and was about to go eat breakfast when he realized Natsu was no longer in the room. Surprised for a moment, he then heard the fire mage's voice along with Lucy's in the main room, outside the door. _'He went for breakfast, huh. Guess he wasn't in the mood for wasting time.' _Gray thought as he called out "Shower's open" and cleared the hall to avoid a collision with the pink haired boy.

For his breakfast, Gray took some cereal just like the others, but his amount was smaller than normal. He hoped that neither of the two currently in the room would notice (Happy was also eating breakfast by now). Luck was on his side, at least for the time being. He finished without the others noticing the amount he had taken.

When the four set off to gather information, they split apart to make it faster. Not that there were many people, they were just spread far apart. Many of the residents lived on farms, which meant a lot of walking. While Gray wasn't exactly looking forward to this, he knew it meant he would be alone. And being alone meant not being discovered. However, by the time he got to his seventh house, Gray was beat. Trying to hide being ill while it was so hot had taken all of his energy, and he barely had enough to move from house to house. He wasn't getting any info, either. Nobody knew what was happening; nobody knew how it was either. Gray would have thought that it was just some weird weather, if not for the sights he had seen at the sixth house.

_The sixth house was a large farm. There were many wells and pipes running through the dry and desolate fields, looking like they had been used to move water back and forth among them. The farmer had shown Gray images of what his farm had looked like up until two weeks ago, when the worst of the sun's heat had set in. The fields were full, a few more days and he harvest would begin. The part that had struck Gray as strange though was not the sudden disappearance of the crops or water, but the way the fields looked from they sky. There were parts where the crops had completely disappeared, and there parts where they had only dried up. Together they made a pattern – and it looked like the symbol for one of the dark guilds! Not only that, this was a _strong_ dark guild. While it wasn't a part of the Baram Alliance, it was still known as one of the strongest independent dark guilds. Which guild it was, Gray couldn't remember, but he sketched down the symbol to show later to Lucy. He had a feeling she would know._

When he entered the seventh house, his head was throbbing and he wasn't sure where his jacket was. He assumed he had thrown it off on the road, and he would find it later. Gray knocked at the door, waited for about 30 seconds before trying again, and then entered. There was nobody in the house. That wouldn't seem strange on its own, but the house looked as though it had been made to be taken pictures of, one of those fake houses that look perfect but nobody lives in. Even weirder was the fact that the house had no dust or cobwebs anywhere, even though it looked like no person had gone up that walk for at least half a decade. As he was about to leave the house, Gray was hit by another dizzy spell. Leaning against the wall, as he was afraid to touch the furniture and cursing because he was getting weaker and weaker, the cupboard door in front of him slowly opened. Out fell a body – a doll's body. It looked as though while he or she (the body had gotten to the point of where it was indiscernible) had been used, the last few months it was used as a weapon. While it was possible all of the marks on the doll could have been from years of hard playing, Gray had a gut feeling that the life-sized doll had been used for much worse than that.

After Gray had recovered, he left the house quickly and moved on to the next one. _Only two more to go,_ he thought to himself. Halfway to the eighth house, Gray noticed he was dragging something and it wasn't his jacket. Looking down at his hand, he noticed he was carrying the doll. Almost immediately he drooped it, but then picked it back up, as Gray felt it had significance with this whole situation.

The eighth and ninth houses brought nothing more to Gray than what he already had. The images of the insignia, fields before and after, and the doll were all in his bag (how he got the doll in their, even he wasn't sure). Heading back along the road to meet with the others, Gray picked up his jacket and went as fast as he could without fear of collapsing.

The area where the team had decided to meet was a restaurant in the center of the town. It had air conditioning and spacious booths. Lucy had been the first to arrive, having the route within town. About a half hour to an hour later, Gray arrived. He had just enough time to sit down and ask for a glass of water before Natsu and Happy came storming in. Their route had been about the same length as Gray's, but because they were who they were, it just made sense they had to be last in.

When the whole group had assembled, cooled down and gotten their drinks, they began to talk. Not about all of it – that would be saved for when they got back to the apartment. They spoke about what things had looked like (Gray didn't mention his 6th or 7th houses), and discussed the sun's part in this. Water and crops, they could be altered fairly easily, but… the sun?

When they had finished eating, the trio and Happy set back to the apartment. Gray was lagging slightly behind again, but he wasn't far enough back for any of them to notice.

Safely inside the house, Lucy and Natsu sat down. Gray stayed standing, fussing with his bag, and as Natsu got up to see what he was doing, Gray pulled out the doll. The pink-haired boy gave out a slight scream and quickly tried to cover it, but Lucy and Gray had heard. And they were laughing.

"What's wrong hothead, you afraid of a doll?" Gray said, chuckling.

His fist flaring, Natsu retorted, "I ain't scared of no girl's toy that someone who calls himself a man carries around!"

"You wanna go, ash for brains?"

"If you ain't too weak, dolly boy!"

Suddenly, Natsu stopped. The word weak reminded him of what he had seen that morning and he was worried. Gray was fine right now however, and in Natsu's pause the icy fist landed an uppercut on the dragonslayer's chin. Going back, Natsu realized that while Gray _was_ fighting, he was still nowhere near his usual strength. Luckily for him, Lucy intervened before Natsu had to think of a plan.

"_Boys!"_

Going into immediate buddy mode, arms slung over each other's shoulders, the two began to back out of the room. Noticing this, Lucy called them back, reminding them that they _were_ here for a mission, and still had stuff to discuss. She shuddered looking at the doll. Gray went back to the table and told his story.

When he had finished, Natsu and Lucy sat staring, jaws dropped. Each of the houses they had visited had either told them useless guesses as to how it was happening or nothing at all. Gray had been the only one to gather anything, and what he had got was _big_. The black-haired boy then held out the paper with the guild's insignia to the girl. Upon seeing the pattern, the blonde's eyes went wide and a slight gasp escaped her lips. This symbol was none other than the guild Raven Tail, the only dark guild not under control of the Baram Alliance.

The boys were obviously curious as to what guild it was, and why Lucy had suddenly gone bug eyed. Staring at her, the two almost missed what she said.

"_Raven Tail…"_

When the boys comprehended just what she had told them, their faces went _white._ The pinks and oranges of the now-setting sun out of the window couldn't even illuminate them, they were so pale. Or at least Gray was, his face much lighter than the other two's. Suddenly, the mage in question felt light-headed. Pressing down on the couch he and Natsu were perched on to steady himself, Gray was about to get up when Natsu's fist burst into flames. He was angry. Before he could go off and do anything reckless, however, Lucy had grabbed his forearms and proceeded to keep him still. Coming back to his senses, the dragonslayer looked over to the pale Gray, flicked Lucy off, and pulled the black-haired boy to their room.

Making him sit on the bed, but then seeing he looked as though he may fall over, Natsu laid Gray down and held a hand to his forehead. _'Thank Goodness I was able to get my skin to a normal temperature,'_ thought the ice mage. He had a slight bit of sweat beading on his forehead, and his skin was a bit warmer than normal, but Natsu took that to be because of the out-of-season heat and the fact that Gray just spent the entire day gather information out in the sun. Getting up, the pink-haired boy told the darker one not to move, that he would be back in a moment with food.

Closing the door and heading back to Lucy, Natsu was met with a questioning stare. Simply saying, "He looked tired", the pink-haired boy continued to take out ingredients and make some odd concoction. Glad she didn't have to eat whatever _that_ was; the stellar mage was still slightly worried for her icy friend (whether it was because she didn't know what was going on or because he was probably going to have to drink the thing Natsu made, she wasn't sure). Just before he disappeared into the bedroom, the fiery mage smirked and said to her "He'll be fine. You'd be tired too if you had to drag a human-sized doll around in the hot sun all day, wouldn't you?"


	3. The Plan, The Chase, And The Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, but that means I can kill the characters over and over again ^.^

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When Natsu re-entered the bedroom, he saw Gray had gotten himself into a sitting position and was no longer wearing a shirt. _'Wait, did he have one on when I brought him in? I don't see one around here…whatever. '_ Thought the Salamander. Gray looked excited at the prospect of food, but upon seeing whatever it was Natsu had brought, his face immediately fell.

"Come on, food is food."

"As true as that may be, whatever you brought sure isn't"

"Eat it. You need to regain your strength."

"Oh? And since when has my well being been of your concern?" the ice mage asked. _'It's good to know his mouth hasn't been affected,'_ bitterly thought the young pink-haired boy.

"I _was_ trying to be nice, but I guess it won't work now" Natsu smirked as he said the second part of the sentence, and that smirk grew into one of his big grins when he saw the look of fear and annoyance on Gray's face. The mage in question had a bad feeling about this – didn't he about most of the other's ideas? – and was trying to back away when Natsu jumped. He jumped on to the bed, right on top of the struggling Gray. Realizing his attempts at escape were futile; he gave in as the fire mage force-fed him. It was disgusting; slimy and chunky and watery all at once. Coughing and gagging, Gray felt it slip down his throat as Natsu made him swallow.

The chunky concoction inside of the black-haired boy, Natsu was satisfied at a job well done. Suddenly realizing where he was sitting, the boy jumped off and blushed. "Sorry 'bout that. You should feel better soon, though. Igneel made this for me once when I had too much sun."

Gray grunted something and turned over to go to sleep. Smiling, the pink haired one sat down in a chair to relax a bit before going to sleep.

Lucy was confused. Sure, what Natsu had said made sense – for a normal person. But Gray wasn't a normal person. Neither was Natsu. This wasn't how he normally acted, especially when Gray was the other person. Lucy sighed. Maybe he was just growing up. Or maybe, she thought hopefully, they're hiding some secret present for my birthday from me! Even though she highly doubted that last one (and even the one before) was the case, it would be nice. And if she began to suspect them, she had a feeling she would get pulled into something _way_ over her head. The blonde mage didn't want that. The two of them were a handful already, _without_ getting involved in their problems.

Looking out the window, Lucy decided that she might as well head to her room. It didn't look like Natsu would be coming out until morning, and it was getting late. They would investigate more tomorrow.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The next day, Lucy got up, showered, dressed, and even finished breakfast before the other two had left their room. _'They probably haven't even left the bed yet,' _She thought cynically. Just a few moments later, however, their door burst open and Gray stomped over to have his breakfast. Surprised, Lucy wondered what had happened. Then she thought better of it. Whatever it was, she decided it was probably best if she didn't know.

"Damn that bastard! Last night, do you know what he did? He straddled me and then force-fed me some disgusting concoction that made me gag. And then he decided that he would go straight to the washroom and spend an insane amount of time in there so I couldn't scrub out my mouth. Don't you just _love_ living with Natsu, Lucy?" Gray stated, in a scarily calm voice after his initial outburst. It gave Lucy the shivers. She was glad she wasn't in Natsu's shoes right now, but… wait. Gray said something about straddling and force-feeding. The realization of Gray's words sinking in, our stellar mage shivered even more. _'Natsu straddled Gray… Natsu force-fed Gray… Gray is going to kill Natsu… And how did I get involved with this anyways?' _ Lucy wondered. As Gray sat down with his breakfast, the blonde took one glance at his overly calm face before vowing to stay as far away from the two as possible. Unfortunately, information gathering was over. The trio had to discuss their course of action today, and that meant sitting together. Listening to each other. And most of all, not being able to stay away from each other. Lucy sighed. Life with these two dimwits was anything but easy. For that matter, it wasn't very safe either, Lucy added as the fire mage burst into the living room with a grin on his face. Standing up, Gray calmly and coolly walked over towards said mage, and then-

The shriek of a young girl made the two turn in their tracks. Realizing it hadn't been Lucy, they rushed to the window only to see a small brunette being carried off, blood dripping profusely from somewhere on her body. Jumping out the window, as the door would take far too long, Gray and Natsu ran after the beast, leaving a very confused Lucy and Happy in the room.

**xxxxxxxx**

Shortly after the pursuers had left the town's perimeter, they had lost sight of whatever it was that had captured the girl. Even following Natsu's nose, there was only a short trail before the scent ran out. Tired and clueless as to where they were, the two sat down. They were on the outskirts of a forest near the town. For a moment Gray thought he had seen it, but then he thought different as he drifted into a state of half-consciousness.

Jerked awake by Natsu's voice, Gray turned to look towards the other. He was going on about something, how they had to get back, Lucy would be worried, when Gray looked at the sky. Staring for a moment, he then registered that the clouds were storm ones – and they looked **bad**.

Pulling Natsu's arm, Gray started to run. Where they were going, Gray had no clue in his half-awake mind, but his feet seemed to know. They ran and ran, leading the other further out on the road, until they reached a house. Running inside, Gray finally realized where they were. It was the magazine house. The house he had found the dead doll in.

Natsu was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. When he had, he started to question the ice mage. _'What was that for?' Where are we?' 'Why the hell did you bring us here'_ so forth and so on until Natsu noticed the sky. The storm outside was raging. The trees they had been at would only have made their situation worse. Looking at Gray, Natsu was about to say thanks when he noticed the expression on his rival's face. It wasn't quite blank, but it definitely was something along those lines, and his skin was somewhat pale. While most of it was probably from whatever had caused that expression, some of it also had to be from that sudden outburst of running. He knew that while the medicine would have helped, Gray still wouldn't be in top-notch condition and what the two had just done was _not_ helpful.

Natsu now taking Gray's arm, he led him towards the couch. Sitting down next to him, Natsu looked into Gray's face. Whatever he was doing, Natsu had to wake him up. He was tired, hungry, and had no idea where the hell they were. Taking the fastest approach, Natsu began to talk to him.

"Oi, icebrain! Where did you take us?"

"What did you just call me, ash for brains?"

Natsu smiled. His plan had worked.

"Icebrain. It fits, don'tcha think?"

Ignoring the last comment, Gray just sat there. _'If Natsu wanted something, he'd keep bugging me until he gets it.'_ The ice mage thought to himself.

"Mou, tell me where we are—" whined Natsu.

Slowly turning towards said whining boy, Gray simply said "A house."

Pouting and making a grumpy noise, Natsu started to whine some more. "I'm not that stupid, bastard."

"You're sure about that? I would've guessed otherwise."

"You wanna go?"

"Sure, flame boy"

"What did you say, heart-of-ice?"

At that final remark, Gray said nothing. He simply turned away again, hurt (although he would never admit it) at what his rival and friend had just called him. Sure, he knew he could be, was even, cold. That was the easiest way around things. Even though it pained him, Gray knew it would be better in the long run if that was what Natsu thought of him.

Looking towards the suddenly-quiet ice mage, Natsu regretted his last comment. He had been caught up in the moment, and he had the feeling that he had gone too far. He couldn't take it back now though, and he knew Gray wouldn't believe whatever he said next.

Sitting in an uncomfortable silence, soaked from running to the house, the rain still pour outside, Gray's illness was beginning to take effect. He felt dizzy, had a headache, and the world in front of him was going blurry. Pretty soon he wouldn't be able to keep up the façade. He had to make sure the mission was over by then. If only…

"…ay! Gray! What's wrong? You look pale…" Gray's thoughts were broken by the voice of the fire mage.

"Hmm? No, I'm fine. It's just the lighting."

"Whatever you say…" The concern in the fire mage's voice was highly apparent. _'This is just great.'_ Thought Gray. _'Natsu's already on to me. This is gonna be one long mission.' _

"Gray. Something's wrong. The lighting isn't making me pale, and you look like you're going to pass out." Gray had to stifle a groan. He _did_ feel like he was about to pass out. "Come on. There has to be a bedroom somewhere in here." Natsu stood up and slung Gray's arm over his shoulders. The arm was immediately taken back, but upon standing, said mage fell towards the ground. Once again catching the boy, Natsu took the arm again, this time without it being taken back.

The bedroom was just down the hallway, with the door about halfway open. It too looked as though it had been set up for magazine photography and then abandoned, with the odd lack of dust. Helping Gray down onto the bed, Natsu felt his forehead. Gray was no longer able to keep his temperature in check; currently he wasn't even able to support all of his weight. He knew his skin would be hot, and he knew Natsu would make him rest. What he didn't know was that Natsu knew that he wasn't sick because of the rain.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

**A/N: So, next chapter, we'll be heading back to Lucy. Please keep reading! The world is beginning to become bleak for Natsu's team. I wonder how it will end…?**


	4. Searching For A Key

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Fairy Tail….**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Staring out the now-broken window, Lucy was confused. _'What just happened?'_ Looking to Happy was useless as well; his stare was even more dense than Natsu's.

Lucy replayed the events of the last few minutes in her mind. _I'm eating breakfast… Gray stomps in mad… Natsu comes in… Prepare for a fight… Girl shrieks… We run to window… Boys jump out window and chase after monster… And Happy and I just stare blankly._ The blonde gave up. There was just no way to understand what went through the minds of those two.

Now Lucy had to figure out what to do. She had no clue where the boys had went, and got the feeling they wouldn't come back until dark. There was no point in wasting a day when the situation just kept getting worse and worse, so she set out. To do what exactly? She wasn't really sure. All Lucy knew was that that girl they had just seen and the monster carting her off probably had something to do with this. And the boys were 'taking care' of that. Thinking back to Gray's discoveries last night, Lucy groaned. This town was just too weird. And Raven Tail… Lucy shuddered. That wasn't something she wanted to think about.

When Lucy looked up, she realized that she and happy had made their way to the central building where they had met Hishiou. Lucy decided that it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to pay a visit to the man; he might be able to help and would probably enjoy learning of their findings.

The interior of the building once again provided a refreshing cool to the two, the air conditioning here was the best out of everywhere in town. It was no surprise, considering who and how many worked here. Finding Hishiou's office was no hard task. He welcomed the cat and stellar mage in, ready for whatever they were about to tell him.

While hearing of Raven Tail being the most likely cause for the abnormalities made the old man bate his breath, he knew that he had brought in some qualified mages from a strong guild. He had put his faith in them, and that was all he could do. Taking his braided beard into his hand, Hishiou once again filled the room with his beautiful, resonating voice.

"Thank you for going to all this trouble. I prize the happiness of everybody's life in this town, and with your help, I believe we will be able to restore. Please forgive me for making such a forward remark, but… How do you plan on ridding us from the dark guild's claws?"

With a smile, Lucy replied softly to the mayor. "The doll we discovered in the house that was empty seems to be a key of some kind. I don't know what, but there is a secret to that doll that I know will help us."

The man smiled back at the young girl. _'She has such faith. It truly is a beautiful sight.'_

"Thank you. You have no clue how much happiness I am sure you will, and even have, brought the town."

Waving to the man, Lucy smiled once more as she got up and left the room. Happy followed closely behind, questioning the blonde as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Ne, so what will we do now, Lucy?"

"Now we have to find out the secret of the doll."

Happy looked dubious at this last remark, how exactly could they do that? Chasing after the blonde once more, the cat just smiled. Lucy would be able to do it.

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

When they arrived back at the apartment, Lucy pulled out her keys. The first line she called was "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!" With a poof the maid appeared.

"Is it time for punishment, Hime-sama?" the maid asked upon arrival.

Groaning at her spirit and not wanting to know _where_ she had gotten this habit from, Lucy sent her about her work. She needed books on life-sized dolls, the occult, anything that could be deemed helpful. Virgo returned to the spirit world, off on her hunt for useful information.

"Gate of the Southern Cross, I open thee! Crux!" Pulling out a second key, Lucy once again summoned one of her many spirits. This time, the appearance was that of an elderly cross, which Lucy quickly asked for assistance on her information gathering.

Once Virgo had found the books, she noticed that Lucy had called out Crux. Not wanting to drain her any further of her magic power, Virgo used her own to travel back to the human world. The poof of pink that came around her upon entry quickly disappeared as she asked, "Would you like to punish me now?"

Lucy took the books as she quickly thanked and denied her spirit. She really did _not_ want to know where that had come from, even though it did sometimes breach her mind. Setting to work, Lucy's eyes rapidly scanned the page while Crux scanned his memories.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Lucy sighed as Crux returned to the spirit world. 4 ½ hours of searching, and nothing. Whatever secret this doll held, it was clearly well protected.

Getting up, Lucy looked out of the now-broken window. The sun should have been setting, but the sky was covered in ominous-looking clouds. They were going to have a big storm today. Lucy could only hope the boys were safe and had found shelter.

Happy had fallen asleep in the time she and Crux had been researching, but the sound of cooking woke the little blue cat up.

"Ne, Lucy~ Can you make me some too?" the cat said with a yawn.

Smiling at him, Lucy was proud. Even though his best friend – who also happened to have raised him – had yet to return and probably wouldn't until at least tomorrow because of the impending weather, Happy was being brave. Lucy could tell he was worried, but he also knew that worrying couldn't do anything. He sure could be mature, if only in rare situations.

When she sat back down, the blonde placed a plate of fish in front of the winged cat. The way his eyes lit up when he saw the meal before him was something precious. Just like Natsu's grins, and Gray's unshakeable support. Sure they were strong, and had _some_ sense, but… Lucy couldn't help but be worried. Something felt wrong. And she had a feeling it had to do with the boys.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sitting in the chair he had pulled up by the bed, Natsu was getting bored. Gray was currently lying in the bed, sweating and unable to fall asleep. Even so, his energy level was too low for him to talk to Natsu.

Natsu couldn't do anything for Gray right now, all because the house was 'an empty shell'. No matter where he checked, everything was empty. Natsu didn't even see any _dust_ anywhere – and that was queer, seeing as it was clear nobody had been in the house for many years. The pink-haired mage felt bad. He hated to see his friends suffer – especially when there was nothing he could do to help.

Sighing, Natsu once again looked to the raven-haired boy next to him. He wondered how long he'd been ill; it was now clear to him that he had been sick since the beginning, and most likely before. Everything he had had to go through on this mission had only made him worse for the wear, too. The day in the heavy sun, running through the rain, the out-of –season heat, all of it had only helped bring the boy down to his current condition. And there was nothing Natsu could do until the storm let up.

How long they had been in there, nobody knows. Gray had only gotten worse, and Natsu more restless. The latter practically sprung out the door as soon as the skies cleared, but he held control. The next step was a hard one. First, Natsu had to get Gray out of the bed. Then Natsu had to help him walk back. And the walk back was _not_ a short one. And Gray had to stay awake, because Natsu had no clue how to get back. Even with his dragon's sense of smell, he wouldn't be able to find the way back. It was as if the rain had washed the scents away – and that thought might not have been too far off.

**xxxxxxxxx**

By the time the storm had let off, Happy was asleep. Even though Lucy felt slightly bad about just leaving hi there, she _had_ to go find the boys. And in the event that they came back without her, somebody needed to be there. It didn't matter if Happy was asleep. As long as somebody was there, it was fine.

The blonde left a note in case the cat woke up or the boys got back. That way they'd know where she is, or at least when to expect her back. Walking along the road, Lucy wondered if the cat _could _read. Even if he couldn't, seeing the note should stop him from completely freaking out. _'Or it might make it worse, saying something like 'I was kidnapped' and other weird things. I bet if I didn't leave one, he'd never notice I was gone. Natsu probably would think the same way too…'_

With a sigh, the stellar mage continued on. She'd have to look quickly – it was already fairly dark out.

**xxxxx**

Lucy didn't have to search for long before she found something. It wasn't exactly what she was looking for, but it was something that could help in their mission. If she was strong enough, that is. And considering she had already called out two spirits that day, someplace in her subconscious doubted the girl.

The 'thing' Lucy had run into was the monster that had earlier carted off that bleeding girl. It kind of looked like Sasquatch, if you thought about it. It had ruddy auburn fur all over, with the exception of its face, palms, and probably bottom of the feet. Lucy didn't think she needed to know that one for sure.

Ready for a fight, Lucy clutched one of her keys. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!"

With a poof of smoke-like matter, a man in a horse suit appeared. "As it were, moshimoshi. What did you call on me today for, moshimoshi?"

Pointing at the creature in front of them, Lucy told her spirit not to kill him. Grabbing her whip, the two set up to fight.

The fight didn't last long. Lucy smacked it a few times, Sagittarius pinned it against a rock, and then assisted Lucy in tying it up before returning to his home. Once she was about to question the monstrosity, something appeared in the shadows behind her.

The real fight was just about to begin…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

A/N: Yes! I can finally start to tor- initiate my plan. The next chapter will bring the beginning of the real story, so please continue reading.


	5. A Cloaked Existence

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I've really wanted to write this chapter for some time, but spending so much time focusing on Lucy was a lot harder than I thought it would be -.-;

I think she's a bit OOC at the end, and I apologize in advance. I lost patience with her.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, **this** would have happened a lot sooner.

* * *

><p>Looking at the work of Sagittarius and herself, Lucy felt proud. For once, she had done something without the boys or Erza, and with minimal help from her spirits.<p>

Turning towards the auburn-furred creature, Lucy began to speak. First, she asked it about the girl, and hen where it had taken her and what had happened to her. Then, the girl asked what it was taking orders from.

She never received her answer.

* * *

><p>Natsu turned towards the bed. He hated what he was about to do, but there was no other choice. He had to get Gray somewhere safer, somewhere that actually had medicine and <em>water<em>.

Realizing that just standing with the covers of the unconscious boy in his hand would not make a difference, Natsu's guilt continued to build. Even though his skin was hot to the touch, Gray was shivering. It didn't take a brain surgeon to see he had a fever.

It also didn't take a brain surgeon to see that taking Gray back out into the elements was _not_ going to help him, even though the house was nearly as bad.

And there was nothing Natsu could do.

* * *

><p>Just before words could stream from the monster's open mouth, a black hand appeared from behind the blonde. With her own mouth covered, Lucy was pulled back into the bushes.<p>

Kicking and trying to scream, Lucy realized that the hand over her mouth provided another option. Grinning devilishly, she bit down. As hard as she could.

Lucy waited for the cry of pain-or even flinch-that she expected, but it never came. The figure didn't even seem to notice she had done anything. What were his hands made out of, metal? Although, she hadn't felt anything of the sort when she bit down. It _felt_ normal, and now she had the taste of damp fabric in her mouth. Maybe she'd been hanging around Natsu a bit _too_ much.

But it was odd; normally you'd be able to tell something bit you, even if it didn't hurt. Maybe the nerves in his hand didn't work? That idea was dismissed quickly. If they didn't, there was no way he could be holding onto her like this. He wouldn't be able to move his hand, let alone control it.

The girl had been so busy in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the figure seemed to have a destination. They had now stopped, although it didn't seem like anywhere special. It was just normal forest. Sighing, Lucy wondered why. Maybe her captive had to relieve him/herself? Because this sure as hell wasn't anywhere you'd do something with a person. Everybody knows that if you're in the forest, you take them to a cave, or cliff. Even a clearing could be used! But no. Lucy's captive had stopped in some trees, no clearing, cave or cliff in sight. It was just. Normal. Trees.

Had her captor never read any novels? Even the_ worst_ ones know that you didn't just stop randomly in the forest to finish someone off. If it was the middle, it would have been better than nothing, but no! Lucy knew for a fact they hadn't gone far enough for that. So what the heck was going on?

Seeing the figure returning, Lucy thought that maybe it _had_ gone to relieve itself. But as the figure approached, the girl noticed a weapon in the hand of her captor. It was made of wood, and looked like it had just been carved.

Well, now she knew what they had been doing.

Not that it made things any better.

Coming closer, Lucy noticed that the figure's face was covered. She couldn't see the eyes because of the hood shading them, and the other features were masked by the loose fabric above the basic tunic. The fabric was black, good for cover in the dark night. The frightening thing wasn't any of that, however. It was the way the figure moved, its disposition.

It was as if it were void of any emotion.

* * *

><p>As bad as he felt taking the blankets off the boy, Natsu knew it was for the ice mage's best. Pulling him to the edge of the bed, he slipped an arm around the other, bringing him to his feet. When the only acknowledgement Natsu had gotten was an odd noise akin to grumbling and moans crossed together, the dragonslayer knew it would be best if he were to carry the ice mage.<p>

And even though he had prepared himself, Natsu hadn't expected what he felt.

Gray was…

_Light_.

And Gray had never been light before.

Natsu knew why–sickness can and will do that to you–but he also knew it didn't happen in only a matter of days. Which meant Gray had been sick for a long time. Too long. How he had managed to keep up his façade, Natsu didn't know. All he knew was he could now feel guilt piling in the bottom of his stomach, for fighting with Gray when he had been down.

Even if Natsu had no way of knowing, it still made him feel bad. Dragonslayers were supposed to be able to sense things normal people couldn't, dammit! And yet, he had been so dense. So… _oblivious._ But feeling bad wouldn't change anything.

By the time Natsu had passed the kitchen, he realized a slight issue. Gray would need to be woken up to solve it, too.

After a few gentle shakes that may or may not have been over-exaggerated steps, the pinkette felt the boy stirring. Moments later, Natsu noticed Gray's eyes blearily trying to open, and chapped lips parting. "Natsu…?"

"How're you feeling?" Even though it wasn't the most intelligent of questions, Natsu needed the conversation to move _somehow_.

"I'm fine. Just a bit… tired. Where are you… Taking me?" Gray asked, illness showing through the breaks in his sentence.

"Back to the apartment. The storm's let up," Natsu pointed out the window, "And this house is empty. But you should save your breath for later. I kind of… don't know how to get back." Natsu finished with a sheepish grin, silently hoping the ice mage would do something, _anything_, to try and annoy him. Sadly, the boy did no such thing. He merely nodded, trying not to weigh down too heavily on Natsu.

Natsu noticed what Gray was attempting, and mentally sighed. Even when the illness was peaking, Gray was still being stubborn. Did he not realize how light he had gotten?

Or did he just not want Natsu to see any more differences?

* * *

><p>By now, the figure had gotten fairly close to Lucy. It still hadn't spoken to her–was it even able? The covered features <em>did<em> seem a bit odd, but that could just be the mask–and Lucy doubted it would.

As its footsteps approached her, Lucy idly wondered. Was she destined to go out like this? In the middle–not even, actually–of a forest, merely a sitting duck? Suddenly, she remembered. She had _keys_! She could call a spirit!

If she hadn't already called three forth that day.

Sighing, Lucy leaned back against the tree. _Might as well get comfortable…_

The features beneath the figure's face as it leaned towards her were starting to annoy the blonde. Couldn't he/she/it at least show an insane smile or something? Heck, she'd even settle for a grumpy _frown_. It was better than _nothing_.

Because that's all the figure showed. Absolute _nothing_. And why was it walking so slowly? Was it _trying_ to build up tension? Or did it just have fun letting her go through inner monologue after inner monologue waiting for it to get close enough to scare her? She kind of doubted that. It didn't seem to want to waste time. _Maybe it was a robot that was programmed to walk slowly? Or the slowness was a factory defect? That would explain the motionless part._ She sighed again. Her brain really didn't have anything useful to do.

Turning back towards the figure again, Lucy realized how close it had gotten. A few more steps and it would be upon her.

And once it was upon her, 'Lucy, Celestial Mage and Member of Fairy Tail's Strongest Team' would be no longer.

She screamed.

* * *

><p>AN: Ah Lucy, I dislike you so. And this chapter is insanely short. I don't hope for it to happen again. Where is Happy, I wonder?

Let's just hope the next chapter doesn't take so long. School's out, so there's more time to write. So it probably won't, but you never know.


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